Limousine partition



March 24, 1953 K. T. KELLER- 2,632,658

LIMOUSINE PARTITION Filed Oct. 15. 1948 2 SI-IEETS-SHEET 1 INVENTOR. Kaufman F/le/Zex E ,rmmzm 2 SHEETS-SHEET h INVENTOR. azzf'men W's/Z27:

iffOF/VJ/SC K T KELLER LIMOUSINE PARTITION March 24, 1953 Flled Oct 13, 1948 Patented Mar. 24, 1953 LIMOUSINE PARTITION Kaufman T. Keller, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Chrysler Corporation, Highland Park, Mich., a

corporation of Delaware Application October 13, 1948, Serial No. 54,273

1' Claim. 1

This inventionrelates to an improved vehicle body partition. More particularly, the invention to be retracted completely within theconfines of the back rest of a seat of the vehicle.

Another object of my invention is to provide a transparent partition of the type that is supported in recessed tracks and is completely devoid of any type of frame, thereby allowing an obstructed vision to the passengers of the vehicle. A further object of my invention is to provide a limousine type of motor vehicle with an improved partition between the passengers compartrnent and the drivers compartment which allows an increased amount of foot room for the passengers of the vehicle. I

Other objects and advantages will become more apparent from the following description of one embodiment of my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the interior of a motor vehicle of the closed car type embodying my invention.

. Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view of the intermediate'portion of the ve hicle shown in Fig. 1, illustrating my improved partition and its supporting and operating J mechanism. 7 V

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and showing the partition raising and lowering mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view of a hinge element as viewed from the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2. 7

Referring to accompanying drawings I have used the reference numeral [0 to; indicate an automobile body of the closed car type having front and rear seats H and [2, respectively, which extend completely across the width of the interior of the body. The front seat H is in the driver's compartment ll while the rear seat I2 is in the passengers compartment l2. The front seat ll includes a seat back structure generally.

includes a transversely extending supporting bracket 2| which extends across the top of the structure 36 and is secured in place by a plate 22 which extends from the bracket 21 downwardly to the lower extremity of the structure 36. The plate 22 is disposed between the shield 36 and the cushion l3 and cooperates with the shield to form a chamber 22. The bracket 21 cooperates with the upper extremity of the shield 36' which is formed in a U-shaped structure to provide a transversely extending slot 2!" which extends across the top of the seat back structure 36. The seat back structure 35 is inclined rearwardly in a conventional manner and the top edge thereof is substantially in line with a pair of door pillars l4, one on each side of the car, which pillars extend from, the roof to the sill of the body. The pillars l 4 separate front doors Hi from rear doors l6 and are provided with grooves [1. which extend in an arcuate path from the top of the pillars to a point intermediate the top and bottom of the seat back structure 36. The grooves I! are curved in arcs of circles of the same radii and about centers on a line extending transversely of the vehicle that are located forwardly of front seat II. The grooves in the respective body pillars l l'are accordingly aligned so that the lateral edge portions of my improved vehicle partition l4, hereinafter more fully described, may be conveniently directly disposed and guided therein.

The grooves I! are lined with suitable cushioning material [8 which contacts the lateral edge portions of the partition IS. The projected area of the partition I9 is substantially rectangular inshape and the partition is curvedabout a horlzontal axis having the samecurv-ature as the groove I! to accommodate free movement of the partitiontherein. The partition l9 may comprise any type of transparent material, preferably glass, and is completely devoid of any frame structure or any other type of view obstructing structure and therefore allows unobstructed vision. By employing a frameless partition of this type, the strain generally applied to the edge portions of the partition in securing a frame thereto is eliminated. In accordance with my invention therefore the use of a frameless partition affords longer life to the partition due to the lack of stress applied to its edge portions. The afore mentioned horizontal axis of the partition I9 is located forwardly'of the partition and therefore the convex surface of the partition faces toward the passenger compartment 12' of the vehicle. The partition ill, in its raised position shown in Fig. 1, has its lateral edge portions disposed in the grooves I! and its upper edge portion engages a yieldable abutment member 29, preferably comprising rubber, which is disposed across the roof of the vehicle Hi. The upper edge portion of the partition firmly contacts the abutment 29 when the partition is raised, forming a substantially air tight seal at the upper edge of the partition and also frictionally holding it against vibratory movement. When the partition [9 is in its lowered position as shown in Fig. 2, it is retracted within the chamber 22' of the seat back structure 36. When lowered the partition I9 withdraws from its raised position through the slot 2! until the partition is completely within the confines of the chamber 22.

Although any conventional type of mechanism may be employed to raise and lower the partition 19 between its positions shown in Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown, for illustration, operating mecha nism including an electric motor 23 secured to the front seat wall 22 and drivingly connected with gear mechanism 24 through a shaft 25. The gear mechanism 23 comprises a worm 26 secured to one end of the shaft 25 and meshed with a pair of worm gears 21 and 21' which, in turn, drive gears 28 andv 28 through shafts 9 and 9 respectively, as shown in Fig. 3. The worm gear 21 and drive gear 28 are fixed on the same. shaft 9 and the worm gear 21' and drive gear 28' are fixed on the same shaft 9'. The teeth of the gears 28 and 29' engage the teeth of gear sectors 29 and '29 which rotate arms 30 and as about the pivot points 3: and 3|, respectively. The arms 39 and 30' are secured at pivot points 31 and 3| respectively, to a plate 32, which is secured and extends downwardly from the member 2|, at an oblique angle so that the plate 32 will not interfere with the path of the partition. l9. The outer ends of the arms 39 and iii are provided with rollers 34 and 35 re spectively, which are engaged in longitudinal slots 37 and 38, respectively, formed in a bracket 36 which is secured to the lower edge of the partition. Inasmuch as the arms 30 and 30' would normally swing in a flat plane, I have provided hinges 39 and 40 in the arms 30 and 30', respectively, so that the outer ends thereof may swing. in planes disposed transversely to the plane of rotation of the inner end portions of the arms. Thus when the arms are rotated, the outer ends thereof are free to move forwardly or rearwardly to compensate for the arcuated path of travel of the partition I9.

Among the many advantages arising from the use of. my improved structure, my partition being lowered in an arcuate path provides an increase in foot room for the occupants in. the rearseat 41 which foot room would not otherwise be available if a straight vertically reciprocating partition were to be used.

While I have illustrated and described but one embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that such is for the purpose of illustration only, and it is contemplated that those skilled in the art may modify certain details without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the claim appended hereto.

I claim:

'A motor vehicle including a body having a drivers compartment and a passenger compartment located rearwardly thereof, a seat structure in said drivers compartment having a storage chamber extending across the rear side of the seat back portion, aligned body center posts disposed on opposite sides of said seat structure and arranged in a plane extending through the back portion of said seat structure, said posts each having an arcuate groove extending lengthwise thereof, and a partition means located generally in the plane of said center posts and operable to cooperate with said seat structure to separate said compartments, said partition means including a frameless transparent plate curved about a horizontal axis arranged forwardly of the seat back portion such that said partition presents a convexly curved side that extends rearwardly towards the passenger compartment, said curved plate being of the same curvature as said post grooves and having the side edge portions thereof directly engaged in said post grooves which guide said plate during arcuate movement thereof about said aforementioned horizontal axis, said seat structure being adapted to enclose said plate in said storage chamber and having an elongated slot disposed in the upper edge communicating with said chamber and provided with a substantially uniform width exceeding the width of said plate by a relatively insignificant amount suflicient to accommodate said aforementioned arcuate movement of said plate, and means operable to selectively elevate said plate from a position within said chamber to a position above said seat structure and to lower said plate.

KAUFMAN T. KELLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date- 1,474,283 Nystrom et a1 Nov. '13, 1923 1,921,263 Rivard Aug. 8, 1933 2,160,099 Zeligman et a1. May 30, 1939 

